Sunday, December 13, 2009

UNCLE RC TRIBUTE

I pondered the above quote...deeply it sank into my head while driving home from my aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary last March...

Previously that afternoon probably 20 or more strangers were greeting the family...several people I had known as a child but didn’t recognize their faces due to time and gravity. The one thing remaining...their smiles….I recognized their smiles in their eyes.

Now 80-something...His eyes were bright yet vacant…his eyes were not the same. What remained from my childhood years, though, was his smile. God gave him the strength that day to be with their visitors while concentrating on their faces, trying to pull up any recognition.

He......loved children

...would take us outside to ride motorcycles

...played with the dogs while teaching us to skip rocks over the lake.

...built a get-away cabin in the woods for hunting, fishing and cooking outdoors

... loved his dogs, Yssup (a larger boxer who could eat you--but he was very gentle

...enjoyed his hand-cleared property--pasture, lake...he loved to walk the perimeter.

...refurbished musical instruments--I still play the flute he refinished for me.

...played bluegrass on his guitar, banjo and mandolin in his basement.

...loved going to Waffle House, having coffee with his old “Southern Bell” buddies.

My uncle and my daddy had the same smile…I could see my Daddy each time my uncle smiled...I could hear his laugh, too, and I would get to enjoy a little of Daddy through my uncle. I believe...he is gone from us, but is present with the Lord, and my Daddy.

I pray he is enjoying 'catching up' with my Daddy...and with RC's son, Charlie, who died in 1990...maybe they both were waiting for Uncle RC to join them in the place Christ has been preparing for us!

"I love you and will miss you, R.C. Hug my Daddy for me! It gives me peace knowing you are already together. Save me a seat at the Lord's banquet table.